If You Stay at Airbnbs, You Need to Know About a Very Disturbing Trend

Whether they’ve rented for a vacation or a business trip, guests who use Airbnb are being exposed to the quickly growing and uniquely disturbing trend of finding cameras in their rented rooms.

The company recently responded to a particularly popular Twitter thread which garnered over 20,000 retweets. Twitter user and American archivist Jason Scott had posted an image of a camera hidden behind a motion detector.

In "oh, that's a thing now" news, a colleague of mine thought it odd that there was a single "motion detector" in his AirBNB in the bedroom and voila, it's an IP camera connected to the web. (He left at 3am, reported, host is suspended, colleague got refund.) pic.twitter.com/6KgkDmEZXB

Scott’s colleague was given a refund and the host was banned indefinitely from renting out their home with Airbnb.

Yet, the issue still remains, with many users of the popular rental site worried about future incidents that that might not actually be all that “rare.”

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In October, a couple visiting Florida had discovered a hidden camera in the master bedroom of their Airbnb, only this time it was disguised as a smoke detector.

Derek Starnes, who works in tech, claimed he noticed that one of the smoke detectors in the room had a tiny, black hole on the side. Taking it apart to get a better look, realized the “hole” was a camera. It was pointing directly toward the couple’s bed.

Earlier that same year, Airbnb investigated a Montreal rental after one tenant discovered yet another camera in one of the bedrooms in the apartment. Two more were found throughout the property where the group of eight had been staying, both in the kitchen and living room.

If the “cameras were, in fact, streaming or recording before they were discovered, ‘at least two’ of the guests were caught naked on camera,” one of the guests told the Observer.

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The owner was not present, instead telling the guests that he was in Mexico. The group was unsure if Airbnb had contacted the police.

Per company policy, hosts must disclose if any security cameras are on the listing and must obtain consent “where required.”

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“Cameras are never allowed in bathrooms or bedrooms; any other cameras must be properly disclosed to guests ahead of time,” said Jeff Henry, an Airbnb spokesman.

And, though Airbnb recommends that customers read reviews of the host they might be renting from and includes an on-platform messaging tool to allow for communication between guests and hosts, the company admits there is only so much it can do.

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However, Kieth Roberts, a technician with British surveillance-detection agency Advanced Sweeping, told The U.K. Independent that customers can take security into their own hands when renting out a property.

The technician suggested that customers should — in addition to going over the entire property with a flash light — check for a two-way mirror, invest in a digital device detector and scan the area for any camera feeds that may use the host’s WiFi connection.

“You have to be vigilant to the likelihood of possibility,” Roberts said. “With cameras you should look for tiny holes, which is where the lens will be.”

“They’d likely put a camera in the dressing down areas like the bathroom, shower room and bedroom.”

And guests may actually be accused of defacing property if, upon finding a camera, they unplug it or take it apart.

That’s what happened to Erin, a renter from Houston who, after arriving at the property and finding a hidden camera, texted friends about it but did not immediately report the matter to the company.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Erin later admitted. “I was just so tired.”

Erin continued her stay at the rental, claiming she hadn’t encountered a problem until she’d tried checking out. She’d received a message from the host accusing her of throwing a party, trashing the place and unplugging the hidden cameras.

“He texted me a lot while I was in Houston,” Erin admitted. “It was kind of a lot looking back and I think he was kind of taking my temperature after he noticed the cameras were unplugged.”

“Because he reported me for damage they just treated it like I was trying to get out of paying,” she said of the company.

However, due to the host admitting to having undisclosed security cameras, Erin was able to push the matter further.

“I was like, ‘Hello, he is saying he did what I was saying he did’, and the customer service rep told me that I should ‘respond professionally’,” Erin said, admitting the company took little — if any — steps against the host.

However, it was only when Erin took to Twitter to complain of the services that she was contacted by Airbnb’s trust and safety team, who asked her specifically about the cameras.

Though she received no formal apology, Erin was told the host’s listing had been “sequestered,” and after an internal review, she was eventually refunded.

“It was really scary because this dude knows where I live, my full name, my cell number,” Erin said of the host. “But at the same time I know his full name and number, too, so I figured that kind of protects me.”